"Haaah, I'm beat...but well done everyone."
A loud chorus of affirmative and relieved groans rose from the returning party, all of them thoroughly worn down by their latest Rayshift. There had been nothing inherently difficult about their mission, mostly just farming materials from the hands of dawn and those golden doors, neither of which were especially strong nor much of a threat to any of the Servants in the party.
But they'd needed to defeat so many of them before they'd gotten the materials they needed...and in a fight of that nature, sheer attrition and fatigue had been their deadliest enemy.
Not even Chaldea's Master, who rarely exerted himself in combat situations thanks to being safe behind his Servant team, had managed to fend off the exhaustion forever.
Stretching his arms and twisting his body about, Ritsuka Fujimaru sighed as the numerous accumulated kinks popped out...shortly before he was hugged out of nowhere.
"My lord, well done today! Your commands and tactics were splendid as always!" Ushiwakamaru proclaimed as she nuzzled into the young man's back.
"A-ah, thanks Ushi, you were great too." He replied, trying not to react too openly to the Rider's relatively exposed front pressing quite tightly against his back as she cuddled up to him in celebration.
"I'm happy to hear that, my lord. But if you really want to praise me properly, then you know the way, don't you?"
"Yeah…I do." Glancing over to the other Servants in the party, he called out. "Alright then, anyone who wants the uh…. the usual reward, line up over here behind Ushiwaka."
As one, a group of the expedition's Servants, composed of Kagekiyo; Atalante Alter; Nagao Kagetora and Hessian Lobo, all began to file over and line up, eager to receive their 'proper' reward for a job well done.
The remainder, namely Merlin, Tamamo and Waver, all slowly filed out of the room, thoroughly weary from a hard Rayshift's work and ready to relax and recharge.
The first Servant up was Ushiwakamaru, the young Minamoto happily skipping up to her Master's outstretched hand and placing her chin under it. Sparkling blue eyes met her Master's as she smiled expectantly.
The things I do for them…
Ritsuka chuckled inwardly at how adorably expectant Ushi looked, beginning to scratch at the Rider's chin. Immediately, a happy whine issued forth as she began shifting her head this way and that, letting Ritsuka get at her whole chin.
Any moment now, any minute...
As if on cue, Ushi leant forward further and further, getting more and more engrossed in her reward. She began pushing her chin more firmly against Ritsuka's hand with a happy smile, seeming to zone out as she focused entirely on how good the scritches felt.
"Shanaou, there are others waiting."
Face reddening as she practically shot her head away from Ritsuka's hand, the Heroine of Dan-no-Ura found herself face to face with a rather irritated Kagekiyo, the latter tapping her foot against the floor in impatience. Ritsuka, for his part, just smiled pleasantly and let loose a low chuckle.
There had always been, and was likely always going to be, that one person who wanted to get more of this unconventional reward than others felt was truly appropriate.
"Th...thank you very much for the reward, Master-dono!" The embarrassed Ushi blurted out, making full use of her agility to fly out of the room.
"Good work today!" Ritsuka called out after her, letting out another chuckle at the sight. Ushi's high energy and boundless excitement when it came to serving him meant that she was always guaranteed to exhibit the most enthusiasm when it came to 'reward time'.
She really is like an adorable little puppy sometimes.
Kagekiyo, for her part, harrumphed in irritation at her younger self's antics, before stepping forward and placing her own head in Ritsuka's hand.
Her reaction was significantly more subdued than the younger Minamoto's had been, with the Avenger lazily and gently twisting her chin and humming as her Master continued to scratch away. Nonetheless, the pleasant and content smile that slowly blossomed on her face told the young man that she was enjoying her reward just as much, in her own way.
After a half-minute she decided that enough was enough and pulled back, nodded once, then took her leave.
Atalanta was up next, sidling up with a stern glare aimed at Ritsuka. It would've been a tad more intimidating had it not been accompanied by a rather healthy blush that stained both her cheeks and a gently wagging tail.
"To be clear, this is only because it wouldn't be fair of you to show favouritism." The Berserker insisted, even as she not only placed her head in Ritsuka's offered hand but also began rubbing against it, "Yes, it's only fair that all of us should get the reward you offer."
"Of course Atalanta, that's fine."
As soon as he began his ministrations, Atalanta began leaning quite heavily against his hand, pushing her head against it and rolling it about in a very cat-like fashion. Intensifying the scratching, Ritsuka was rewarded with a low and rumbling purr from Atalanta as she began rolling her head much more vigorously back and forth, her tail wagging quite ferociously all the while.
This time, the petting session went on for quite some time, at least a full two minutes, before Atalanta finally pulled away.
"I-I believe that'll be enough...d-don't think this will make me some obedient dog though! Understood?"
"Understood, good work today." Ritsuka tried to keep his smile from getting too wide, especially at the sight of the Berserker's tail whipping around wildly in happiness. "I'll be sure to call on you if I need something destroyed again."
"V-Very well, I'll be going now!" Atalanta fled the room, practically bounding through the door. As it closed behind her, Ritsuka finally let out a soft chuckle.
It's cute watching her try and act tough.
"Me next, meow!" Kagetora skipped up to him next, her typical smile firmly in place. "C'mon Mast-nya, give me the proper reward too!"
"Alright then!"
As he began scratching at her chin Kagetora started trying to purr, apparently trying to imitate the 'cuteness' she'd seen from Atalanta. After a few goes at it, the Lancer gave up and just settled for occasional 'nyas' and 'meows', trying to give her most adorable cat expression.
Ritsuka couldn't resist the urge to pat her head. For all her...eccentricities, she was certainly dependable, and they'd managed to grow quite close as friends in her time here.
"Ahehehe, thanks Mast-nya!" Leaning up to nuzzle against his cheek, even giving him a playful lick, Kagetora pulled away and skipped out of the room, a steady stream of 'meows' echoing down the corridor as she went.
"G-Good work today, Kagetora!" Ritsuka made sure to call after her, a little red from her boldness.
Lobo didn't bother to wait for an offered hand, simply stomping up and shoving his face into Ritsuka's chest, nuzzling roughly against Chaldea's Master for a moment before throwing his head back to point at his own body. Even as both Ritsuka and the Hessian rider reached out to begin petting him, Lobo didn't let up.
"Eh? What's up Lobo?"
A low whine issued forth as the King of Currumpaw looked up at Ritsuka, a needy gleam in his eye as he gestured once more to his body with his nose.
At the same time, Ritsuka noticed the numerous dirt and debris-filled knots that had formed in Lobo's fur, an inevitability with him when engaging in close combat, as Lobo was wont to do.
"Ah, I get it...you want something done about this coat, right?"
Lobo nodded.
Smiling, the teen reached into his pocket and retrieved his trusty brush, an item he'd long since learnt to bring with him when on expeditions with the more animalistic Servants. He began running it roughly through Lobo's fur, gradually smoothing it out and removing the dirt and detritus that had accumulated in it throughout the Rayshift.
The Hessian soldier, having done this multiple times before, joined in with his own produced brush. Despite their rough treatment, Lobo kept still and did not lash out, for he was more than tough enough to take the brushing and it was one of the easiest ways to clean out all the larger clumps of muck his coat would inevitably pick up on missions.
"Alrighty...that should do it." Ritsuka proclaimed after a full five minutes of brushing. Giving the King of Currumpaw one last look over to admire his handiwork. "We've got most of the worst out, but you should go to one of the baths if you really want to get clean, alright? Good work today."
Letting out an approving whine, Lobo's tongue stretched out to offer his Master a lick on the cheek. Motioning for the Hessian to mount him, the Avenger turned and trotted out of the room with a rare happy smile on his face, his reward received and work done for today.
That left just one person in the room who needed to be thanked. One of Chaldea's newest arrivals, in fact.
Unfortunately, Ritsuka's mind was still partially on autopilot from all the scratching and brushing he'd been doing, while also reaching the instinctual conclusion that whoever opted to stay behind did so because they were looking for that sort of reward. So, as he approached the lone remaining Servant, he instinctively reached out his hand and began to scratch their chin.
"Erm, this tickles somewhat...what is the point of this action, Master?" Came the soft, mature and thoroughly confused Servant's voice.
Ah.
It was then that his eyes refocused, and Chaldea's Master realised who exactly he was he'd been carelessly petting.
Standing in front of him, blue eyes meeting his own, was Morgan. In complete defiance of her typically cold and aloof demeanour, the (former) Fairie Queen of Britain looked almost adorably lost and out of her depth as Ritsuka's hand continued to scratch at her chin.
"Ah ha ha, s-sorry about that!" Immediately, he snatched his hand away, face reddening in embarrassment at his inadvertent violation of her boundaries. "I was just going through the motions after a Rayshift, is all."
"I'm not upset." Morgan replied, in her usual flat tone. "But it was a strange reflex action. What was the point of it, again?"
"Ah, it's just a form of reward I give to certain Servants after a Rayshift." Ritsuka admitted, scratching at his own neck as he thought back to the beginning of the trend. "It started with Ushiwaka asking to be pet on the head, and since she acts a bit like a dog a lot of the time, I decided to try scratching her on the chin to see if she'd like it.
"She wouldn't shut up about how great she felt to get a 'proper reward' from me, so then other animal-like Servants started requesting similar rewards, in the interests of 'being fair' and it just…. kinda snowballed from there to become a regular thing, really."
"I see. So, this petting is a form of praise, then."
"Uh, yeah, that's about it. Uh, speaking of which...good job today!"
Morgan still looked a little quizzical, so he kept on going.
"I mean on the Rayshift, since this was your first one and all, you did a real good job! Thanks for your help! Well, got to go now!" Cheeks still crimson from his earlier faux-pas, Ritsuka fled the room, leaving the Fairy Queen alone with her head lowered to the ground.
Her earlier confusion had vanished, being replaced by a warmth in her cheeks and oh-so-slight smile on her lips.
Taking a few breaths, the Berserker tried to calm the accelerated thumping of her heart.
Stop this. Calm yourself. Those were just the expected words of thanks from my Hus-...from Master, nothing to be too excited over.
They'd been really nice words to hear, though.
How long had it been since someone had last said those words to her?
"Good job out there, Tonelico, you kicked ass! You need patching up? I'm always ready to help!"
Faithful and loyal Totorot. She'd had no shortage of kind and encouraging words ready whenever Morgan's own courage and conviction had waned. Always with her warm and uplifting smile and that infectious good cheer that bolstered the hearts of any soldier who saw it.
Even after taking the throne, after divesting herself of the identity of Tonelico, Morgan found herself dreaming of that smile and cheer. Dreaming of being her innocent and youthful self once more, huddled around a campfire and sharing stories and laughs with Totorot, warming herself from within with a fresh bowl of vegetable soup.
Perhaps things would have been different had Totorot stayed with her to the end...had she not needed to leave.
"Well done, miss Tonelico! Keep this up and we'll have you on the throne in no time at all!"
Sir Ector. Her best knight and one of the few survivors of…. of that disastrous coronation. He'd always been the first to pick her up and dust her off after a failure, or to pat her on the back and congratulate her after a hard-earned victory. She'd never really realised, let alone appreciated, just how much she relied on that support to carry herself forward until he retired from adventuring for good.
When Woodwose had brought word back of what had happened to him via the army he'd sent to find Artoria Caster, word of what those Tintagel scum had done to him as they slaughtered themselves and burnt their village…
Morgan's grip tightened around her spear, tightened until her knuckles went white.
It had been a 'test', according to them. A test for her successor. Prove herself the true Child of Prophecy by killing the only Fairy in the village that dared treat her with kindness and decency.
She'd failed, thankfully, having the moral integrity to refuse such pointless barbarity, but it had mattered little in the end.
She'd wanted to kill them right on the spot. She'd thought about sending Baobhan Sith there to make sure their ends were tortuous and painful. She'd even thought about using one of her stocked Rhongomyniad Lances to make sure that there was nothing left of that wretched little village.
She should have ordered that Woodwose retrieve Ector sooner. Even without specific details, he'd have the order carried out. He was the only Clan head she'd been able to count on in the latter half of her reign…. until he'd turned on her too, screaming about how she had betrayed him of all things.
No no no, she should've gone there personally to retrieve Ector herself. Should've made sure he was okay and brought him to Camelot. Made sure he wasn't butchered like some animal by those ungrateful, backstabbing Fairy scum.
Her previously level breathing grew heavy as Morgan thought of her old friend. Of how he'd served her loyally, fought at her side for decades, perhaps centuries...and died without her lifting a finger to save him in return.
"I think you underestimate just how much you inspire the men, Tonelico. They feel at ease when you fight with them, there's a vigour in them that I don't see without you there. It's like they think that if the saviour is there with them, then everything will work out with enough hard work. As long as you keep fighting the good fight, we'll all be right there with you...because we all believe in the saviour."
Uther…
He'd been her most devoted and longest serving supporter, surpassing perhaps even Totorot. Even with his limited lifespan and weakness compared to the few Fae followers she'd managed to rally to her banner, Uther had come through for her time and again.
He'd gone so far as to assemble an entire army from the oppressed humans of Fairy Britain from scratch, with nothing but his diplomatic talent, warrior skill and charisma to convince them to risk it all for the sake of following Tonelico the Saviour.
And what had they gotten in exchange for their loyalty? For their years for hard work and sacrifice battling creatures far stronger than themselves for the sake of a brighter tomorrow? For a ruler that would finally treat them as more than livestock?
They'd gotten butchered like cattle on the eve of their triumph. At what should have been a celebration, their finest hour, they'd perished.
If she closed her eyes when she was alone and without significant distraction, she could still see Uther's face, gaunt and deathly pale, spiderwebbed with visibly dark veins with twin trails of blood trickling from his nose as the Fae poison did its work.
Even in his final moments, he'd tried encouraging her. Said that this was just a setback for her, that she could recover from this and try again. That she could still be 'the saviour', all she needed was time to get over this 'setback' (as he'd called it).
Her vision began to blur, and no amount of ferocious scrubbing at her eyes would keep the tears from flowing.
…...what would he think of her if he could see her now? The tyrannical Winter Queen of Faerie Britain.
He would despise me, I'm sure...he would be right to. I promised him and his people their freedom, and I failed to deliver.
Hold on, where was all this coming from?
She'd been pleasantly surprised, dare she say it happy, a few moments ago, courtesy of her hus- no, her Master's unexpectedly hands-on praise...and now she'd thrown all of that away with a few moments of reflection.
Even in her private moments as queen, she'd never been driven to that sort of bad mood. Never drowned in her myriad sour memories the way she was now. Even when they came up, she'd never been this upset.
Angry? Yes. Bitter? Certainly. Fatigued? Constantly. Scared? Only intermittently during the early years of Baobhan Sith's training, when she had yet to grasp the lessons in cruelty Morgan endeavoured to impart, more consistently during the Caterpillar Wars….and inevitably whenever her thoughts had turned towards the possibility of Cernunnos awakening.
Certainly, never that thoroughly upset before. She'd remembered her old friends from her Tonelico days before, even well into her reign as queen, but all she'd felt was a sense of combined loss and numbness. An empty hole in her chest that, deep, deep down, had occasionally yearned to be filled.
After all, she'd cried herself raw for weeks on end after the coronation massacre, until she'd only stopped after having no more to shed. Even today, she could still remember how clogged her nostrils and throat had felt after so much uninterrupted crying. She'd have nearly dehydrated herself if not for using the omnipresent streams and rivers of Fairie Britain to rehydrate herself.
The near-constant waves of soul-crushing sorrow and mournful regret had been punctuated only by flashes of overwhelming, vengeful rage. A desire to find and punish every last one of those traitorous murderers. It was in those moments that she'd begun to dip into her Panhuman self's knowledge of...darker magecraft.
Death curses. Pain inducing spells. Voodoo magic. Life draining curses. Mind control mystics. Forcible polymorphing. Previously, young Morgan had been afraid to dip into the dark side of her other self's bag of mystic tricks...but the slaughter of her beloved comrades in arms on the supposed eve of their triumph had provided all the motivation she needed to dive in with no remorse.
As upset as she was at the deaths of all of her old adventuring companions and dear friends, a part of her was glad that they'd perished before she'd actually ascended the throne.
It might have been selfish, but at least they died still seeing her as the hero she'd strived to be for them...instead of what she'd wound up becoming in her quest to finally dominate Britain completely.
Hold on...Britain. Perhaps that was it.
Even in her darkest and most private moments as Winter Queen, she'd always had distractions to occupy her. Whether it was a rebellion or two to stomp out; a potential Child of Prophecy sighting to investigate; Baobhan Sith to raise; Mors outbreaks to deal with; unruly Fae to keep in check; the Existence Tax to collect or preparations to make for Cernunnos, there had always been something to deal with to distract her.
That had been that constant back and forth political struggle between her and the less loyal Clan heads, always that constant wear of her reign to deal with in Britain. It was that strain that pushed down her emotions and withered her heart, there was simply no time for self-reflection when she had Britain to rule.
But now Britain was gone, her reign was over...perhaps that was why. No reign meant no responsibilities or distractions, no fatigue. There was no longer any reason to lock away her heart and feelings and so, apparently without her realising, they'd started emerging again.
A bitter smile bloomed at the revelation. Forget the Fae, she couldn't even trust herself anymore. These feelings of hers couldn't have picked a worse time to start acting up, could they? Thank goodness neither Baobhan Sith nor Totor- Habetrot had been around to see her acting like this.
Even with all she'd lost, Morgan still had her image and dignity. She'd be damned if she was going to throw that away with everything else.
At least she had some privacy right now, that way she could try and puzzle things out a little, get some sort of handle on these new (ly re-discovered) emotions of hers.
"Oh, here you are." A soft, yet mature...and quite familiar voice called out.
...or she could be interrupted.
At the mental registration of company, all traces of emotion were wiped from Morgan's face as she re-assumed her typical expression, turning to face the newcomer. She'd had plenty of practice in front of the Fae Clan leaders during the early years of her reign. After all, showing any sort of emotional weakness in front of them would have been disastrous.
"...have we met before?" Morgan was surprised at how much of her internal confusion suffused her spoken words. "You seem familiar."
Her voice was familiar, her face irritatingly so, but Morgan could not place her. She was certain this was a first-time meeting and yet...not only did Morgan feel as if she SHOULD remember this newcomer, but said newcomer also spoke as if they'd encountered one another before, which was obviously a lie.
There was no way she'd forget meeting someone that looked like that...much as she might want to.
The very Artoria-like newcomer made her way into the room, a gentle smile on her face. Morgan could not help but clench her fists, just a little, at the realisation that she was floating a few inches above the ground, a gentle breeze being kicked up around her by her radiating power.
Are you trying to MOCK me, put yourself ABOVE me? The more vindictive portion of her mind snarled, though thankfully she did not voice this concern aloud.
"Ah, I see." Comprehension dawned in the eyes of the newest clone of her hated sister. "You've not met 'this' me yet, so please let me introduce myself.
"I am Artoria Avalon, the conceptual manifestation of a 'Knight of The Holy Sword'. I am here to serve as our Master's blade. But please, call me Artoria Caster, or simply Artoria if you prefer."
...what?
This new Artoria was what had become of her replacement? She hadn't died fulfilling her...well, technically their destiny?
"...you were supposed to be dead. Sacrificed to forge the Holy Sword. That was our fate, was it not?"
"I suppose so, yes. But I was spared, in a way, by a very good friend of mine. A great swordsmith who helped forge Excalibur in my place." A wistful smile blossomed on Artoria Avalon's face. "I hope Master summons him soon, even if it isn't the same man 'I' remember...then again, I'm not quite the same person either."
Swordsmith? Could it be that particularly foolish man…?
"This friend of yours, would he happen to be a red-haired young man with no shirt?"
"Yes, how did you...ah." Artoria's momentary confusion was quickly replaced by understanding, accompanied by a light blush across her cheeks and a slight smile of embarrassment. "Yes, you would probably remember him, wouldn't you, now that I think about it a little."
"Yes, I'm sure that if someone tried to assassinate you, you too would remember them quite well indeed" Morgan snapped. "That fool really thought he could defeat my Fae Knights and break through the defenses of my castle all by his lonesome, pfft. As if I would be so easily felled."
"I see, his plan did seem quite haphazard when he explained it…"
"But regardless…" Morgan shook her head slightly before refocusing on her former enemy. "I don't remember you having that form in the Faerie Kingdom, there is no way you could be summoned like that. Unless I'm missing something, how and when did you manifest in that form?"
"Well, it was after your death, during our Master's last fight." Artoria Avalon's expression fell into a sad smile. "My other self had already vanished from Faerie Britain...but she wanted to see Ritsuka again. Wanted to protect him again. To be by his side no matter what. Since she was forced into slumber in Avalon, she manifested and summoned me to go in her place. I have her experience, her memories, power beyond even her wildest dreams…. all to use for Ritsuka's sake. To serve as his weapon until the very end."
To see him again...
To be by his side...
The way she spoke. The steadily growing happy smile on her face. The blush on her cheeks as she reminisced...there was something else to this. There had to be.
"And why go to these lengths? Why...why would that girl do all of that?" Morgan asked, cocking her head in renewed confusion.
"Isn't it obvious? She was in love with him." Artoria Avalon spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And from that love came a sense of loyalty that drove her to the very end. Drove her to meet her destiny, even for the sake of a land and a people who hated her.
"At first I couldn't quite understand. After all, I have her memories and experience, but the feelings weren't mine. I wanted to try and understand...and after some time here around Ritsuka, now I do."
"And what does that me-"
"Ah...Your majesty, there you are!" A second familiar, though significantly more welcome, voice interrupted.
Mash Kyrielight made her way into the Rayshift room, looking quite relieved.
"Ah, Mash...is something the matter?"
"No, Senpai and I were just worried about where you were. Senpai thought you'd followed everyone else out, but you weren't in your room, so we were worried you might've gotten lost or something."
"I see. Well, as you can see, everything is quite alright. I was simply lost in thought for a moment, then our...mutual friend here found me." Morgan explained, indicating Artoria.
"That's good news. Oh! That reminds me! Artoria-San, Senpai wanted to ask if you could look over the blueprint we got from Fairy Britain. He's asking all the Casters and Gods we've got to take a look, to verify that we can use it and maybe help out with the eventual forging."
"Would this be the blueprint for the Holy Sword?" Artoria asked, though her knowing smile indicated that she already knew the answer she was going to get.
Mash nodded in the affirmative.
"Of course, tell Ritsuka I'll be right there. In fact, why don't I go with you? It's been a while since we've talked, hasn't it? I'd like to catch up...and please, you can just call me Artoria."
"O-oh! Alright then!"
"Wonderful."
As the duo began to depart, Mash turned and posed one last question to Morgan.
"Do you need any help finding your way around, your majesty?"
Still in a bit of a daze trying to process everything that she'd just learnt, especially that part about her successor creating this whole other self of hers to serve as a Servant, Morgan mumbled a distracted reply.
"Hmm? I'll...I'll be just fine."
A little concerned at her lackadaisical response but satisfied nonetheless, Mash and Artoria Avalon made their way out the door and down the corridor, a fresh conversation on their lips that reverberated back into the Rayshift room until the doors closed shut behind them, leaving the Winter Queen alone once more.
Fingers brushing at her lips, Morgan took a nearby seat from one of the numerous command and control desks for herself and sat down to mull things over further. Specifically, the new piece of information about that new Artoria.
Creating a doppelganger or clone of oneself was certainly possible via Magecraft. After all, Morgan herself was well-versed in creating her own alternates to protect her territory more efficiently or take care of the daily administration duties that came with being Queen of a Kingdom, giving her free time to prepare more Rhongomyniad Lances for use against the Horned God.
And then there were all of the humans in her Lostbelt, artificial clones bred on special 'farms' that were practically identical to more natural humans in just about every way...minus the lack of reproductive ability and their limited lifespan, of course.
But to create a separate version of oneself as a conceptual embodiment? And to make that alternate so powerful in the process? When she and the Child of Prophecy had clashed, it had taken her ringing all six bells and having significant support from Chaldea for her successor to overcome even one of her clones and she'd been no match for 2 of them, plus Morgan herself, all at once.
However, loathe as she was to admit it, the 'Holy Sword User' version that had until recently stood in front of her was leagues more powerful. Even when she was at rest and restrained as she was by the confines of a Saint Graph, Morgan could reach out and sense the waves of magical energy rolling off Artoria Avalon. And her weapon…
She'd suspected from the get-go that it was a Divine Construct. The way it cleaved seamlessly through whatever stood in front of it, unleashed bright explosions of power with every swing and could withstand even the mightiest of blows with no visible harm, there was no way the blade was anything less than a construct of a God.
She'd been even more alarmed when comparing the blade's power to the potency of the Holy Sword Excalibur. The sword-wielders among the legion of her 'sister's' copies often ate together, giving the observing Morgan more than enough time to discreetly barrage the blade with scanner spells of her own design.
As it turned out, this new Artoria's blade was definitely the Holy Sword's superior, even with all 13 Restraints of The Round undone, Excalibur could not match it. The only 'blade' that possibly outpowered it was that 'Sword of Rupture' possessed by the King of Heroes, or so she had been told. After all, she'd never seen it in her time here...only heard of it via the man's excessive bragging of its capabilities, and she was starting to think that it was all just idle boasting on his part.
Yet this young Caster managed to create something, someone, this powerful...and she did it all for that Master of theirs.
Truly fascinating.
Now that she thought about it, a good many of the Servants here displayed remarkable loyalty to their shared Master. That Count and large, armoured skeleton-esque man (whom she'd been told was the former Grand Assassin) shadowed him wherever he went. She'd overheard several of the stronger and more skilled Casters in their ranks offering to enhance his Mystic Codes. The Berserkers seemed to calm down whenever he was nearby. Even the most volatile, chaotic and downright malevolent Servants tended to be on their best behaviour when he was around.
I mean for God's sake, there are at least TWO of those 'Beasts of Humanity' wandering about the place! Four if you count that depraved 'monk' and the Cath Palug.
By all accounts, they should have levelled this place by now...and yet all it took was a simple smile or cheery greeting from Ritsuka and they were pacified. The last she'd heard, that twisted nun was not only serving as a therapist for Chaldea (the fact that she was legitimately qualified for such a role had been quite the shock for the Fairy Queen) but doing quite the fine job of it! Even refusing the obvious temptation to torture the minds of whomever it was that came to her with their issues.
And why was she so willing to help others, despite how selfish she'd been made out to be in the stories Morgan had been told of her Beast self? Their Master had asked her to, that's why!
…perhaps it was time to gather her Fairy Knights. She was very much intrigued.
It was time to find out a bit more about Ritsuka Fujimaru.